Chapter 716

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The charcoal in the brazier crackled and popped.

Zhang Qiyun bit her lip, finally saying, “Allow this commoner to try.”

Fei Yuer smiled upon hearing this. She said, “That’s right. The maxim of our women’s academy is that women are no less capable than men. This is what the Emperor himself had me write on the walls of the academy. Since His Majesty is backing us weak women, you just need to be bold and try. If you succeed, it will bring glory to our women’s academy and to me.”

“Yes, Empress,” Zhang Qiyun responded.

Having settled this matter, Zhang Qiyun returned. Xiao Ming then said to Fei Yuer, “The Empress has indeed taught a good student.”

“Your Majesty exaggerates. Rather than saying I teach well, it’s more accurate to say Your Majesty teaches well, after all, the little knowledge I have is all taught by Your Majesty,” Fei Yuer now resembled an Empress more and more, speaking with grace and composure.

Xiao Ming smiled upon hearing this. As Emperor, his greatest fear was trouble in the inner court. Therefore, a capable Empress was extremely important for the harem. This way, he could concentrate on state affairs instead of being disturbed by trivial matters.

The current Fei Yuer was not only able to get along well with Lu Luo and Ziyuan, but also capable of assisting him in internal affairs, which was truly rare.

“I do have some credit, but most importantly, the Empress is intelligent,” Xiao Ming and Fei Yuer teased each other. This was also a way for the couple to foster their affection.

With a slight smile, Fei Yuer brought the conversation back to the main topic. She said, “Your Majesty, recently I have increasingly felt that the women’s academy is very important. In warfare and farming, women may not be as good as men, but in learning and memory, they are no less than men.”

“The Empress is right. This is also why I had the Empress establish the women’s academy. Now that the women’s academy is showing initial results, it must continue to be run in the future,” Xiao Ming said.

Fei Yuer nodded. “Once my body recovers, I will keep a closer eye on the women’s academy.”

At this moment, breakfast was served, and the wet nurse brought over Xiao Yi as well.

The two ate while teasing the little imperial prince for a while. Looking at the plump, jade-like infant in swaddling clothes, Xiao Ming couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion.

In a blink of an eye, five or six years had passed. From eighteen to his twenties, the empire he was determined to build was just beginning.

Now he could no longer wait but had to accelerate the process. After all, the technology crystal contained all-encompassing technology, and he still wanted to conquer the stars and the sea in his lifetime.

After the auspicious snow before the New Year, the festive atmosphere grew stronger. Having lived in Qingzhou Province for five or six years, he had grown accustomed to this lively environment.

A few days before the New Year, he had Fei Ji and Pang Yukun distribute some holiday gifts to officials according to regulations. However, compared to previous years, he was not as generous this year.

After all, he was now not only managing the six prefecture but also the entire northern prefectures and counties. The number of officials had directly increased from over three thousand to over thirty thousand.

After the New Year, Xiao Ming and the officials once again plunged into state affairs. This industrial revolution had just begun, and they could not afford to be idle.

In addition, he also issued a decree after the New Year’s grand court assembly for a comprehensive reform throughout the Great Yu Empire.

Every year at this time, officials from various prefectures and counties would come to Qingzhou Province to wish him a happy New Year. This was the best time to popularize the reforms.

His implementation of reforms in the six prefecture did not mean that other parts of the Great Yu Empire could avoid participating in reforms. Rather, the current national treasury was limited, and he could only spend the silver where it was most effective, which led to the plan of prioritizing support for the six prefecture.

But in fact, this decree benefited the entire Great Yu Empire; all prefectures and counties could implement it.

“Your Majesty, many officials are full of praise for the changes in Qingzhou Province, saying they will imitate it when they return.”

In the imperial study, Pang Yukun spoke as if recounting an interesting anecdote.

“It’s easy to say, but difficult to do,” Xiao Ming frowned. The grand court assembly allowed officials to understand Qingzhou Province, and also allowed Xiao Ming to understand the situation in other provinces.

Unlike Qingzhou Province, the situation in both Jinling Province and Chang’an Province had not changed much. The common people still lived in the old social model. The Great Yu Empire was simply too vast. Even in contemporary times, there were some places that modern civilization could not reach. Therefore, he could only choose to focus on developing coastal port areas.

After all, commercial prosperity required these trade ports.

“I understand Your Majesty’s meaning. This reform is not something that happens overnight. Although ministers and common people still have some resistance, if the six prefecture develop, I believe officials in other provinces will be much more proactive.”

“Indeed, you can’t get fat with one bite, so you must not slack off,” Xiao Ming reminded them.

Pang Yukun nodded, then said seriously, “Your Majesty, I have something to report to Your Majesty. A Dutch delegation has landed in Dengzhou and wishes to come to Qingzhou to meet Your Majesty. I wonder if Your Majesty wishes to see them?”

“Dutch delegation? Is it Claire and his people?” Xiao Ming was a bit surprised. Ever since the Dengzhou port was opened for trade, Dutch merchants had flocked there. Now, Dengzhou even had a small settlement of Dutch merchants.

“No, the message was sent to the Grand Secretariat by Claire. According to his account, this Dutch delegation was dispatched by the Dutch Parliament, and the head of the delegation is an Earl named Branden.”

Pang Yukun frowned as he spoke. In his opinion, these Western countries were all strange, and he still couldn’t adapt to interacting with these Westerners.

Xiao Ming nodded upon hearing this. The Grand Secretariat now handled all the state affairs of the Great Yu Empire, and only matters that the Grand Secretariat could not decide would be reported to him.

This way, everyone could make the best use of their talents, and he could also spare time to cultivate talents and develop technology.

However, this was not a complete delegation of power; he had always been keeping a close eye on them.

“You are responsible for arranging it,” Xiao Ming intended to strengthen trade relations with the Dutch. Claire only represented the Dutch company, but this delegation represented the Dutch state.

The British were now extending their influence into East Asia, and he also felt it necessary to strengthen relations with the Dutch to jointly dismember this ’empire on which the sun never sets’ at sea.

“Yes, Your Majesty, I will go and make the arrangements now,” Pang Yukun replied and turned to leave.

Watching Pang Yukun depart, Xiao Ming lowered his head to look at the new firearm structural drawing sent by Song Changping. Song Changping had named this model of firearm “Fierce Fire.”

This firearm abolished the previous flintlock firing mechanism and adopted percussion cap firing, and this firing characteristic would give his firearms an advantage on the battlefield.

Setting aside the firearm blueprint, Xiao Ming then looked at the memorial submitted by Fei Ji. On the memorial, Fei Ji provided information on the living conditions of the common people in various provinces, as well as the current state of handicrafts, mining, and salt industries in each province. In short, the current situation of the Great Yu Empire was very bad.

This northern war had devastated various provinces, the common people lived in hardship, and handicrafts and mining had suffered heavy losses.

The six prefecture, with Qingzhou at their core, also experienced massive consumption due to the war, coupled with post-war disaster relief. Now, the reserve grain in the treasuries of the six prefecture was dwindling.

Putting down the dismal data, Xiao Ming clenched his fist and slammed it heavily on the table, firming his resolve.

He was very clear that the industrial revolution in the West occurred on the basis of plundering the entire world. Abundant resources promoted the prosperity of Western industry, prosperous industry made the common people rich and strong, and stronger nations enabled them to seize more resources.

Therefore, the foundation of Western prosperity relied on the word “plunder.” Even in contemporary times, the West had merely replaced military colonization with economic colonization.

Having understood this, Xiao Ming deeply realized that without the support of vast resources, even with the technology crystal, he would constantly face obstacles. Given this, he naturally could not let the West monopolize the world’s resources.